What motorcycles do young people want?

[pekingduck]

the Husqvarna vitpilen 401...

my goodness that tail is...uh...um....ah heck, it's just plain...



...gly

you know, like something got cut off.

Youll get no argument from me there. I never could warm up to the looks of that particular one, but they're consistently sold out in the new rider market...so much so that they're hard as heck to find in stock.

Were going to be seeing a lot more bikes with "unique" anesthetics like that coming round the bend in the next decade, especially as electric bikes become more practical. In fact, the rise of electric bikes is probably going to be the thing that gets more young people riding, for one simple reason: no clutch.

We all think of that as anathema to a good time, but for a lot of young new riders its the biggest barrier. They just dont want to learn a manual transmission. Theyre intimidated.

That is indeed true for many would-be riders and is not a profound statement. This has been true for many, many decades.

Another way of looking at electric bikes is as an evolution. An analogy is the transition from a steam locomotive to diesel. Steam engines required significantly more effort to operate effectively compared to diesel. It would seem intimidating to the uninitiated, but no longer relevant in the era of diesel locomotives. I see automobiles and moto-bikes along the same evolution.

the Husqvarna vitpilen 401...

my goodness that tail is...uh...um....ah heck, it's just plain...



...gly

you know, like something got cut off.

Youll get no argument from me there. I never could warm up to the looks of that particular one, but they're consistently sold out in the new rider market...so much so that they're hard as heck to find in stock.

Were going to be seeing a lot more bikes with "unique" anesthetics like that coming round the bend in the next decade, especially as electric bikes become more practical. In fact, the rise of electric bikes is probably going to be the thing that gets more young people riding, for one simple reason: no clutch.

We all think of that as anathema to a good time, but for a lot of young new riders its the biggest barrier. They just dont want to learn a manual transmission. Theyre intimidated.

That's a great point about the clutch and shifting. Close to 98% of new cars in the US are automatics. If a CVT trans or other automatic is ever successfully adapted to a 250-750 size bike, it would be a huge selling point. DCTs are close, but expensive and not so smooth.

Have you ridden a late model DCT?

They are not close. They surpass traditional clutch configurations, are more efficient, and are incredibly smooth. This is why they are used in professional racing. Sadly, they are a transition implementation since eventually electric will rule the day and dino-burning bikes become Sunday morning paraded antiques to gawk over with donuts and coffee in hand.

Have you ridden a late model DCT?

They are not close. They surpass traditional clutch configurations, are more efficient, and are incredibly smooth. This is why they are used in professional racing. Sadly, they are a transition implementation since eventually electric will rule the day and dino-burning bikes become Sunday morning paraded antiques to gawk over with donuts and coffee in hand. Some DCT car transmissions are smooth, others, like Ford's Powershi*t were not so good. I've ridden all the DCTs, the last in the Africa Twin, and maybe they have gotten better, but not DN-01 w/torque convertor or CVT smooth.